Punch press



Dec. 17, 1968 1.. E. RUTZ PUNCH PRESS 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 30, 1966 [Ea/V f. 7 1607- m a 42, ATTORNEYS L. E. RUTZ PUNCH PRESS.

Dec. 17, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30, 1966 I.\"VE.\'TOR.

v I ,-\TTOR.\7EYS BY adz m Qr/IW- United States Patent 3,416,392 PUNCH PRESS Leon E. Rutz, Goodhue County, Minn., assignor to Houdaille Industries, Inc., Bulfalo, N.Y., a corporation of Michigan Filed June 30, 1966, Ser. No. 561,918 19 Claims. (Cl. 74-625) This invention relates generally to punch presses, and more specifically to a clutch-driven mechanism provided therein.

Although the principles of the present invention may be included in various punch presses, a particularly useful application is made in one of the type that has a C- shaped frame with a flywheel disposed at one side thereof.

The present invention contemplates the utilization of a flywheel that normally runs continuously for transmitting power to a reciprocable ram, s-uch transmission of power being under the control of a one-revolution clutch which must be separately actuated by the operator for each power stroke of the ram. On occasion, it is de sirable for the operator to align the tool carried by the ram, or to check such alignment, or to align a wprkpiece with respect to a ram. With such structures, such alignment or checking has been difficult in that it would be necessary to stop the flywheel rotation, then engage the one-revolution clutch, and after which the position of the flywheel would be inched along so that the ram is in a lowered position for a selected indefinite period of time.

The present inventioncontemplates the utilization of structure which enables manual lowering of the ram without terminating flywheel rotation and without actuation of the one-revolution clutch.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved punch press.

Another object of the present invention is to provide structure by which the punch press ram. may be lowered manually and gradually while the flywheel is rotating.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide means by which:a lowering force may be applied to the ram of a punch press independently of the power source that drives the ram.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

On the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a punch press having structure provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line IIII of FIG. 1 with parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along along line I'IIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from below with parts omitted for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the linkage used to operate the one-revolution clutch.

As shown on the drawings:

The principles of this invention are particularly use- -ful when embodied in a punching machine or punch press such as illustrated in FIG. 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The punch press 10 includes a frame 11 which has a C-shaped configuration as viewed from a lateral side which is open at the front and closed at the rear. The frame 11 supports a bed 12 at the front, and thereabove it reciprocably supports a ram 13. The ram 13 is supported and controlled by a structure disposed thereabove which includes a motor 14 connected by a pulley to a flywheel 15, the motor 14 normally continuously driving the flywheel 15. A mechanism is provided to transmit energy from. the flywheel 15 which mechanism is under the control of a foot pedal or treadle 16. Such mechanism and structure is best shown in FIG. 2.

The frame 11 has a pair of upper arms 17, each of which terminates in a forwardly directed face 18 on which there are provided a pair of bearings 19, 19, the rear half of each of which is shown in the drawing. The pair of bearings 19 are thus carried by the frame 11 at the upper front portion thereof and are laterally spaced from each other. The bearings 19 support a pair of concentric shafts 20, 21. The first one of the shafts 20 is the outer shaft and is hollow and is directly supported by the bearings 19. The second or other shaft 21 is the inner shaft which is rotatably supported by an inner surface 22 on the outer shaft 20. Both ends of the shaft 20 extend beyond the lateral sides of the frame 11 and thus project entirely through such frame, in this instance horizontally. Likewise, both ends of the shaft 21 project axially through the hollow shaft 20. The ram 13 includes a connecting rod 23 which has an internal bearing 24 which is rotatably mounted on an eccentric 25 which forms an integral part of the outer shaft 20. The eccentric connection 25 is disposed between the spaced bearings 19, 19.

The flywheel 15 has a hub portion 26 which has a sleeve bearing 27 by which the flywheel 15 is rotatably mounted on the right end 28- of the shaft 21 that projects beyond the outer shaft 20. The flywheel 15 is retained thereon by means of a washer 29 and screw 30, the rotation of the flywheel 15 being normally free. Inward movement of the flywheel 15 is precluded by its sliding engagement with the main body of a one-revolution clutch 31 which likewise is supported on the outer end 28 of the inner shaft 21 and which is corotatable therewith by being keyed thereto by means of a pin 32.

A handwheel 33 is secured to the outer shaft 20 and is disposed on the left end thereof which projects beyond the frame 11. The structure includes a pair of brakes, namely a first brake means generally indicated at 34 and a second brake means generally indicated at 35. The first brake means 34 includes a drum 36 which is on the side of the frame 11 more remote from the flywheel 15. The brakedrum 36' is'thus disposed at the left side of the frame on one side of the hand-wheel 33, and is in effect combined with the handwheel 33, functionally as one unit, there being a single key 37 which corotatably secures the handwheel 33 and the brakedrum 36 to the outer shaft 20;

The second brake means 35 includes a brakedrum 38 which is corotatably secured to the left or projecting end 39 of the inner shaft 21'. The brakedrum 38 is thus also disposed at the left side of the frame 11. The handwheel 33 is thus also disposed at the left side of the frame 11 in a position between the pair of brakes 34, 35 for rotation in a plane parallel to the lateral sides 17 about the axis of the shaft 20. The brake means 34 includes a brake shoe means 40 while the brake means 35 includes a brake shoe means 41. These are held in any manner against rotation,

the structure for such purpose being here shown as a mounting flange 42. The brake shoes 40, 41 include other sections complemental to those illustrated which are secured thereto as by means extending through the' illustrated apertures, such brake shoe means (not shown) acting between the brake shoe sections which engage a particular brakedrum. The brakedrum 38 in this embodiment has a setscrew 43 by which it is attached to the inner shaft 21.

Power is transmitted from the rotating flywheel 15 to the one-revolution clutch 31 which has an angular lost-motion connection 44 with the projecting end of the outer shaft 20.

The clutch 31 includes certain structure disposed on the hub 26 of the flywheel 15, best seen in FIG. 5. The flywheel 15 has a left or inner face 45 which lies in the plane in which the view of FIG. has been taken. The hub 26 has a pair of grooves which extend perpendicularly to each other across the face 45 of the hub 26, thereby defining four radial grooves 4649. The confronting walls of each of the grooves 4649 are sloped at an angle of about 45. In each of the grooves 46-49, there is provided a cylindrical insert 50, the outer end of which is coplanar with the end face 45. The inserts 50 are situated in recesses disposed or substantially centered in the sloping wall groove which is at the counterclockwise side of the grooves 46-49, each insert 50 having thereon a flat face 51 which is directed in a clockwise direction, coplanar or intersecting the counterclockwise edge of each groove 46-49. The inserts 50 are hardened and are thus impact resistant.

The structure on the clutch 31 that abuts the face 45 on the flywheel hub 26 is flat, is apertured so that the inner shaft 21 passes therethrough, and has a further aperture 52 which is rectangular in radial cross section, and which extends in an axial direction immediately adjacent to the shaft 21. Within this aperture 52, there is disposed a slidable key 53. As seen in FIG. 2, the slidable key 53 is biased to the right by a spring 54, but is held to the left by a control cam 55, namely is held to the position illustrated where the right end of the sildable key 53 is retracted from the surface 45. When the control cam is lowered, the spring 54 urges the slidable key 53 to the right, thereby causing the key to project from the body of the clutch 31 and to move into one of the grooves 4649 to be abutted by the next insert 50. FIG. 4 shows this relationship with the body of the clutch omitted and with the control cam 55 omitted. Rotation of the hub 26 urges the flat surface 51 against the projecting end of the key 53 which transmits torque to the body of the clutch 31. A portion of this torque is transferred by means of the pin 32 to the shaft 21 to cause the brake 35 to be over-ridden or to slip. When the key 53 is retracted from the groove 4649 by means of the control cam 55, the driving connection from the flywheel to the clutch 31 is broken, and the brake 35 will provide a retarding force through the shaft 21 and the pin 32 to the clutch 31.

As shown in FIG. 3, the left side of the body of the clutch 31 forms part of the lost-motion connection 44 between the clutch 31 and the outer shaft 20. To this end, the left side of the clutch body comprises a face 56 which has a recess 57 which surrounds a portion of the shaft 21. One end of the recess 57 comprises an abutment 58, adjacent to which the recess 57 is enlarged to accommodate a screw and looped end of the spring 54 by which the spring is retained. The spring is arcuate and lies in the arcuate slot 57 and encircles the axis of the shafts 21, the force of the spring being transmitted by the free or distal end 59 thereof against the slidable key 53. If desired, a groove 60' may be provided in the key for this purpose. The spring 54 extends a uniform distance from the rotational axis of the shaft 21 for a purpose explained below. The right end of the shaft 20' may abut the portion of the face 56 identified by the numeral 61, as well as the end of the retracted key 53. The right end of the shaft 20 has a rigid ear 62 which extends into the slot 57, the ear 62 comprising a sector of approximately 90 extent. The rigid ear 62 normally engages the abutment 58 so that when the clutch body 31 is driven as described previously, torque will be transmitted by the surface 58 to the rigid ear 62 to effect rotation of the shaft 20. Such rotation is accompanied by such drag as is caused by the brake 34 and by the resistance to movement of the ram 13. When the key 53 is retracted from the 4 flywheel hub 26, the brake 34 serves to stop further move ment of the shaft 20, the handwheel 33 and the ram 13.

During normal operation, the flywheel 15 will be rotating on the end 28 of the shaft 21 which will be stationary. Therefore, the body of the one-revolution clutch 31 will likewise be stationary. Under these circumstances, the handwheel 33 may be manually grasped and rotated providing that a sufficient force is applied to override the brake 34. This froce is applied in such direction that the rigid ear 62 on the shaft 20, which projects in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft 20, will rotate about such axis in the slot 57 away from the abutment 58. Such rotation lowers the ram 13 to the lowermost part of its stroke in that the edge 63 of the rigid ear 62 can rotate at least 180 before engaging the key 53. The uniform radial distance that the spring 54 is disposed from the shaft 21 thus defines a region of clearance through which the rigid car 32 may rotate.

The treadle 16 is pivoted so that on depression of the treadle, a rod 64 is upwardly actuated, the upper end of such rod being shown in FIG. 6. The rod 64 thus pivots a lever 65 about an axis 66 to urge a link 67 downwardly. The link 67 has a notch that receives a pin 68 carried on a second lever 69 that is likewise pivoted about the axis 66. The link 67 is biased in a clockwise direction as shown by a spring 70, and the lever 69 is biased in a clockwise direction by a spring 71 to a position where it engages a stop pin 72. The control cam 55 is carried on the left end of the lever 69 so that depressing of the treadle 16 lowers the control cam 55 out of a control recess 73. This enables the spring 54 to slide the key 53 as previously explained, thereby causing rotation of the clutch 31. After the clutch has rotated a predetermined distance, a lobe or cam 74 engages the link 67 to pivot it in a counterclock wise direction against the force of the spring 70, thereby disengaging its notch from the pin 68. Once the link 67 is disengaged from the pin 68, the spring 71 raises the control cam 55 which then rides in a groove 75 until a cam surface 76 on the key 53 engages the control cam 55 to retract the key 53 from the flywheel 15. In order to actuate the punch press 10 a second time, it is necessary for the rod 64 to be lowered sufliciently so that the notch in the lower end of the link 67 can again be urged to surround the pin 68 in response to the force of the spring 70. A further spring 77 may be employed to take up all lateral backlash to hold the key 53 entirely clear from the face 45 of the flywheel hub 26.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A punching machine comprising:

(a) a frame having a bed;

(b) a pair of concentric shafts rotatably supported on said frame, one of which shafts is hollow, and in which the other is disposed;

(c) a ram having an eccentric connection with a first of said shafts for reciprocation with respect to said bed;

(d) a driven flywheel rotatably supported on a second of said shafts;

(e) a one-revolution clutch supported on said second shaft and including means for selectively transmitting power from said flywheel to said first shaft through an angular lost-motion connection therebetween; and

(f) a handwheel secured to said first shaft for rotating it to at least partially lower said ram manually during rotation of said flywheel.

2. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which said hollow shaft is directly supported by bearings carried by said frame, and in which said other shaft is directly supported by an inner surface of said hollow shaft.

3. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which said clutch is corotatably secured to said second shaft, and having brake means including a brakedrum corotatably secured to said second shaft.

4. A punching machine according to claim 1, which includes a pair of brakes, one of which brakes is active on said first shaft, and the other of which is active on said second shaft.

5. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which said first shaft is said hollow shaft, and in which said second shaft is said other shaft.

6. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which said handwheel is a combined handwheel and brakedrum, and which includes brake shoe means for acting on said brakedrum.

7. A punching machine according to claim 1, which includes brake means having a breakdrum corotatably secured to said inner shaft and to said clutch.

8. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which both ends of said hollow shaft project through said frame, and in which both ends of said other shaft project through said hollow shaft.

9. A punching machine according to claim 1, which includes a pair of brakes respectively active on said shafts and disposed with said handwheel at one side of said frame.

10. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which a cylindrical insert is disposed in said flywheel, said insert having a flat face directed to abut a slidable key which comprises a part of said clutch and through which the power is selectively transmitted.

11. A punching machine according to claim 1, in which said angular lost-motion connection includes:

(a) an axially directed face on said clutch directed toward an end of said first shaft, said face having an arcuate slot terminating in an abutment; and

(b) a rigid ear carried by said first shaft and extending in a direction parallel to the rotational axis of said first shaft into said slot for being angularly driven by said abutment.

12. A punching machine according to claim 11, in

which said rigid ear is integral with said first shaft.

13. A punching machine according to claim 11 which includes:

(a) a slidable key comprising part of said clutch and through which the power is selectively transmitted, and having an end portion extending into said arcuate slot; and

(b) an arcuate spring disposed in said slot and encircling the axis of said shaft, said spring being secured to said clutch, and said spring acting on said end portion of said key and biasing said key toward said flywheel.

14. A punching machine according to claim 5, which includes:

(a) a plurality of bearings carried by said frame and directly supporting said hollow shaft;

(b) first brake means including a drum corotatably secured to said hollow shaft;

(0) a rigid ear extending from said hollow shaft in a direction parallel to the rotational axis of the shaft;

(d) an abutment on said clutch coactive with said ear and jointly comprising said angular lost-motion connection;

(e) an inner surface of said hollow shaft directly supporting said second shaft; and

' (f) second brake means including a drum corotatable with said second shaft and with said clutch.

15. A punching machine according to claim 5, which includes a pair of bearings carried by said frame and supporting said hollow shaft at opposite sides of said eccentric connection.

16. A punching machine according to claim 1 which includes a pair of brakes respectively active on said shafts and disposed at opposite sides of said handwheel.

17. A punching machine according to claim 1 which includes brake means having a brakedrum, and a single key corotatably securing both said br-akedrum and said handwheel to said first shaft.

18. A punching machine according to claim 1 which includes a pair of brakes respectively active on said shafts and disposed at that side of said frame which is the more remote from said flywheel.

19. A punch press comprising:

(a) a frame having a C-shaped lateral configuration open at its front and closed at its rear, and including a bed at its front;

(b) a ram reciprocably supported above said bed;

(c) a shaft having an eccentric connection with said ram and extending beyond both lateral sides of said frame and supported by a pair of laterally spaced bearings secured to the upper front side of said frame;

(d) a flywheel which normally is continuously driven (e) a one-revolution clutch for transmitting power to said shaft from said flywheel;

(f) a handwheel secured to said shaft for rotation in a plane parallel to said lateral sides; and

(g) a lost-motion connection between said clutch and said shaft enabling said handwheel to be manually rotated and said ram to be thereby at least partially lowered during rotation of said flywheel while said clutch is disengaged.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,019,091 3/1912 Sacerdoti 74-525 1,781,274 11/1930 Roo 74-625 2,865,285 12/1958 Wacht "-273 3,113,653 12/1963 Volkovitsky "100-215 FRED C. MATTERN, 111., Primary Examiner.

W. S. RATLIFF, Assistant Examiner.

US. 01. X.R. 83526; 100-273 

1. A PUNCHING MACHINE COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME HAVING A BED; (B) A PAIR OF CONCENTRIC SHAFTS ROTATABLY SUPPORTED ON SAID FRAME, ONE OF WHICH SHAFTS IS HOLLOW, AND IN WHICH THE OTHER IS DISPOSED; (C) A RAM HAVING AN ECCENTRIC CONNECTION WITH A FIRST OF SAID SHAFTS FOR RECIPROCATION WITH RESPECT TO SAID BED; (D) A DRIVEN FLYWHEEL ROTATABLY SUPPORTED ON A SECOND OF SAID SHAFTS; (E) A ONE-REVOLUTION CLUTCH SUPPORTED ON SAID SECOND SHAFT AND INCLUDING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY TRANSMITTING POWER FROM SAID FLYWHEEL TO SAID FIRST SHAFT THROUGH AND ANGULAR LOST-MOTION CONNECTION THEREBETWEEN; AND (F) A HANDWHEEL SECURED TO SAID FIRST SHAFT FOR ROTATING IT TO AT LEAST PARTIALLY LOWER SAID RAM MANUALLY DURING ROTATION OF SAID FLYWHEEL. 